A variety of devices are utilized to process continuous webs. One such device for processing continuous paper webs, for example, is an inserter system. Inserter systems are typically used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies, and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mail item are directed to a particular addressee. In many respects, a typical inserter system resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (e.g., enclosures and envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs.
A plurality of different modules or workstations in the inserter system work cooperatively to process sheets until a finished mail piece is produced. Typically, inserter systems prepare mail pieces by gathering collations of documents on a conveyer. The collations are then transported on the conveyer to an insertion station where they are automatically stuffed into envelopes. After being stuffed with the collations, the envelopes are removed from the insertion station for further processing, such as automated closing and sealing of the envelopes, weighing of the envelopes, applying postage to the envelopes, and finally sorting and stacking the envelopes.
At the input end of a typical inserter system, rolls or stacks of continuous printed documents, called a web, are fed into the inserter system by a web feeder. As will be appreciated, the continuous web must be separated into individual document pages. This separation is typically carried out by a web cutter that uses a blade forming a part of guillotine cutting module to cut the continuous web into individual document pages.
In one type of web cutter, called a pinned web cutter, the web is provided with sprocket holes on both sides thereof and is fed from a fanfold stack or a roll into the web cutter. The web cutter has a feeding mechanism that includes a tractor with pins or a pair of moving belts with sprockets to move the web toward the guillotine cutting module for cutting the web cross-wise into separate sheets.
In an alternative type of web cutter, called a pinless web cutter, the continuous web is moved toward the guillotine cutting module by a feeding mechanism having a feeding nip that includes a pair of opposed rollers. Such a system is referred to as a pinless cutter as the continuous web of material does not require the sprocket holes described above. The pair of rollers in the feeding mechanism consists of a driven roller driven by a motor, which is typically a servo motor, and an idler roller that is spring loaded against the driven roller.
When a feeding mechanism having a feeding nip that includes a pair of opposed rollers is employed to feed a web, misalignment between the opposed rollers, most commonly due to wear (e.g., uneven wear) of the idler roller, can cause wrinkling and/or poor tracking of the web as it is fed. In a pinless cutter, such wrinkling and/or poor tracking typically leads to a reduction in the cut quality. To provide alignment between opposed rollers, some feeding mechanisms are provided with a manual adjustment feature which allows the idler roller to be periodically adjusted manually. This manual adjustment is typically inconvenient and time consuming, as the feeding mechanism, and, thus, the cutting in the case of a web cutter, must be stopped while each manual adjustment is made, leading to a decrease in throughput.